So, I was wondering what music folks thought would make good background for an Epic campaign...

I recently acquired Blood of the Dragon by Nox Arcana. It is an amazing disc and perfect for an action filled game.

I've used the soundtracks to Braveheart and Last of the Mohicans in fantasy games before, but I'm pretty tired of them. So other suggestions would be welcome.
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Hi Matt - good to see you over here!

Mohicans has become something of an Ur-Track - it has transcended background music and become its own character in our weekly Sunday game. Same for Conan and The Return of the King. Everyone know that when the hobbits sing, characters die.

I've recently been playing around with Princess Mononoke, the later Pirates of the Caribbean and, believe it or not, V for Vendetta. Some of the stuff from V is a bit modern sounding, but would be perfect in, say, a crazy modern horror rpg run by Matt McElroy.

Also, uh, Tool. So, that's odd.

Other purely Epic RPG faves for me are also the new King Arthur, as well as The Village for bringin' down the mo', but still keeping the pathos.

Brotherhood of the Wolf score- a lot of different types of parts- horror/action mix.

Battles:
Parts of Verdi's Requiem
Parts of Carmina Burana (not just the well known Conan inspiration part)
Holzt's The Planets- Mars of course

Adventure:
Night on Bald Mountain (Samuel Barber?)

There's probably more I can't remember at this time, but hopefully this is something for you. I was always partial to the Ultima 7 music if you can find it- it probably would suck by today's video/computer game standards, but the nostalgia affect (for me) would be incredible.

Dude, I love good mood music (we have worn the same CDs to death too), so hereís my list:

MOVIES:
Conan the Barbarian
The Village
Lord of the Rings
The Messenger
Braveheart
13th Warrior
Interview with a Vampire
Name of the Rose
The Seven Samurai (remastered in 91, I believe)
Da Vinci Code

GAMES:
Balderís Gate I and II
Divine Divinity and Beyond Divinity
Warcraft 3 and World of Warcraft
Elder scrolls, Oblivion
Diablo I and II
Dungeon Siege
Sacred
Temple of Elemental Evil
*** A lot of these games have fun sound effects too, like drips in caverns, woods at night, hollowing wind that really add to the mood.

Some really good soundtracks I've used are Willow, Legend, Kingdom of Heaven, and the soundtrack from the video game Morrowind. I also use alot of norse and celtic intrumental for ambient background music._________________"You aren't gifted. You're just rich."

I have Kingdom of Heaven, but havenít heard Willow or Legend. Iíll have to keep my eye outÖ

C

Willow is good for over-the-top or courageous heroics for warriors or knights and Legend is good for murky fairy-filled woods and strange creature encounters ._________________"You aren't gifted. You're just rich."

I meant to jump on this when it first came around, but now that it is resurrected, I will throw in my two cents.

I solidly believe that Conan the Barbarian is the best soundtrack for gaming, although it needs action, so your game better have it. Also, if you want to hear a soundtrack that REALLY rips off Carmina Buranna, just try teh Duel fo Fates track from Star Wars Episode 1: The Real Menace.

I could go on about Conan for a while, but I'll get to others.

A couple that I have used for a more serious or darker setting are Pan's Labyrinth, The Fountain, and The Passion of the Christ. These can be great for building tension before a fight, but its good to have something combat oriented afterwards - I am actually a bigger fan of The Two Towers tracks then Return of the King, but that is likely just a preference. All three lord of the rings are good background stuff.

Others that I use: Mars Attacks, Stargate (the movie), the Godfather, Schindler's List, The Messiah (by Handel), Carmina Burrana, Rocky (heroics gallore!), The Empire Strikes Back (The Imperial March, of course), Speed, Night on Bald Mountain (by Modest Mussorgsky, by the way), Psycho (now THAT has a story), Chariots of Fire, Dark Side of the Moon, The Planets.

I am also well known for using Metallica for scenes involving undead. I don't have a reason for that one, it just seems to have happened and my players can spot it now.

But really I will use anything - our best scene ever was Louie Armstrong's its a wonderful life playing while the character was getting an (unfriendly) audience with Sauron. And it was followed up by "Que Sera, Sera!". We remember that.

Hey Stone (and others), if you are a fan of the Conan soundtrack try and find the music to the Seven Samurai. Most of the Conan music is based off of this stuff and it is really great. I found it once as one big file somewhere on the web, but can't remember where.

Also some of the String Quartet Tribute to (Insert band here) are very good. I use the Deftones one a ton, of course I'm really partial to the Deftones (enough to get them tattooed on me ). It may not be too suitable for a medieval fantasy game but it works wonders for World of Darkness (Changeling: The Lost), my other roleplaying passion._________________"You aren't gifted. You're just rich."

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